Walks with the Snails
Erudite
Calis said:@Dagorkan: None of your business, really. I'm not going to speculate on what I'll do *if* my assessment of the situation changes, but suffice it to say that if I come to the conclusion that this was all a big mistake on my part, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to fix it. I haven't come to that conclusion yet, and do not intent to simply adopt the value calls of others (no matter how well-articulated or reasoned they are - see Astro's posts and also a few of Snails' posts), no matter how little of a right you think I have to do this.
It's cool, I know I was grandstanding more than a little rather than coming up with solutions and never really expected to win you over as much as I apparently did. Really, you're all okay guys in my book, and the invective was directed more at the situation than the people. Not to mention much more fun than smacking around yet more ADD kiddies with inflated senses of self-worth.
Everyone seems to realize that things went south and feel all conciliatory now, though. The big thing is are you guys willing to compromise? The shareholder analogy is bunk and I think you guys know it. You can't say this whole clusterfuck was a huge blunder and then reiterate that the cause of it all should be formally enshrined. If the almighty consensus was really the solution to all woes this never would have happened. Circling the wagons and going into damage control mode is quite understandable given the heat some of us assholes have given you. But retreating back to the Star Chamber isn't going to fix this. It says a lot in your favor that you're trying to take personal responsibility for fixing this by trying to train new writers, etc., but honestly if that burden was something you don't like and never wanted, then why are you taking it? VD actually wanted to do what you're dreading having to do for him, and likely would be doing a great job at it, so why not just give him the incentive to do so? Yes, you're going to have to give him an incentive like anyone who just really wants someone to do their work for them, only nobody's getting paid here so it's going to take something else. If the status quo didn't work for him before, why do you expect it will now?
I wonder if it's actually dawned on any of you that you're doing a bunch of shit for free that most rational people out there demand a hefty salary to put up with. Is it really worth it? If all you really wanted to do is spout off your opinion how the site should be run without all the other bullshit, why not just do it duty-free like the rest of us slackers? We both know I've had a lot more fun than you in the past few days. It seems like you guys just got away for a while with having the influence without the responsibility, and it finally came to head when you tried to forcefully assert your authority and it backfired. You guys show every sign of understanding and admitting this. All retaining the status quo will ensure is that this will all happen again, though. Not to mention dump a big pile of unwanted work in your laps for basically nothing more than servicing your feelings of responsibility and some vague sense that REALLY BAD THINGS will happen if you relax your stance a little. Again, ask yourselves one more time, is this shit really worth it?